This one goes down smooth as hell and puts some pep in your step, yet it’s still cozy and intoxicating. Like a couple shots of some good Canadian whiskey. New material, new pianist, great vibes. Not a long show, but if anything that adds to the effect. They do it up right. This one’s as good as anything else from Fall ‘71, which is saying a lot.
There is some serious energy and drive to speak of. Fast tempos, fiery licks, high marks all around. Very assertive, aggressive Dead. You can even see it in what amounts to an outstanding Dark Star: the first half of the jam vehicle is murky and patient, but the second half is whipped into a frenzy, with Kreutzmann punching the gas pedal and letting his bandmates roar out the windows like trippy dogs enjoying the wind. Some Dark Stars hover and float. This one gallops!
Is Jerry playing the Alligator strat here? That’s my best guess. He rotated through a bunch of axes in ‘71. Regardless of which one he was using for this show, he definitely deployed a perfect guitar tone for Americana tunes such as Tennessee Jed and Jack Straw.
From the Sugar Mag opener to the St. Stephen > Johnny B. Goode closer, this one’s a piece of cake, perfect for new heads just getting into the band and jaded elders alike. Electric stuff!

Glad I stopped by..
Have a nice day 😊

Man this is a nuts recording, incredible energy, phil laying down body shaking runs, hot hot hot

To me this is the most focused Grateful Dead tour of 1971
Just check out this Dark Star
This initial tour with Keith helps build a foundation for Europe 72.
When Pig returns he is more in the background.
Still has plenty of mojo but not center stage unless it is his tune.
All of this tour is solid to my ears. Nothing fancy or over the top
Here is the song, find your groove.
they wanted Keith to get real familiar with the repertoire .
Sugar Magnolia,DEAL to open YEAH!
EL PASO-Nice Garcia riffs
Weir "Thank You, friends"
JED-new meaty,beaty big, bouncy
J. Straw-Phil's bass and those harmonies Sing it Bobby!
China>Rider-Jerry going this way
Phil going that way
Jerry's guitar licks on PITB
Phil's backing vocals on Mexical.
"Shall we go, you and I while we can.."
Yellow Dog-story
i love Cumberland late in the show!
Stephen>Johnny B (interesting pair right there)
https://historicdetroit.org/galleries/eastown-theatre-old-photos />http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/2075

from a great old theater (RIP). One of my favorite periods to be sure. Dark Star is icing on the cake.

moo!

I love transition years, every time theyou play with a new musician we get this influx of energy from not only the new player but from the whole band.
Thank you to the uploader and to Jerry and Co. for giving us all this music gratis.

Not that I remember much but this was my first live GD show. I do remember someone in the audience yelling, "Rock and Roll !" between songs and Bobby who was very annoyed, told him to
"F-off, relax we're from California". The sound is much cleaner than what we heard in the balcony. Great Sound Board archived show.
Thanx and Happy Trails

Any well played show with a killer Dark Star gets 5 from me!
Keith's first few weeks in the band were pretty much all supercharged, high energy shows and this is no exception. The Jerry ballads from this run are all pretty much uniformly excellent as well...
But obviously the heart of this show is a totally slept-on, non-famous but really smoking Dark Star. Garcia is in fleet, nimble form throughout. The pre-verse jamming fades back and forth from DS structure to spacy open jamming, then after the verse we get a propulsive melodic jam that flirts with the Tighten Up theme before diverging into a unique creative section. Really great! A must for Dark Star heads.

Thanks for this! Sounds great. Really spacey and spacious Dark Star.